Moscow not excludes contacts between Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian FMs

There is a probability of contacts between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on April 19.

The negotiation process over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution has stagnated due to the denial of Yerevan to continue serious talks.

Armenia has been evading all meetings within the peace process since June 2016. Armenia’s foreign minister openly limited his participation in Hamburg and Munich meetings to a dinner hosted by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in honor of the two countries’ ministers.

Zakharova also noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be discussed during the meeting of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier to be held on April 26 in Moscow.

The conflict between two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.